HAD IT WITH THIS REALITY? THEN TRY ANOTHER...
THIS reality hasn’t been great recently, so I decided to try out another — the one they call virtual reality. My portal is the Oculus Quest 2, a VR headset that came out at the end of last year.
The selling point of this curvesome chunk of white plastic (right) is that it’s entirely self-contained. The games reside on it. It doesn’t need to be connected to a console. And so, unlike other headsets, there are no wires to get in the way of you and your new world. It may just be the perfect gadget for lockdown.
Which isn’t quite the same as saying the Quest 2 is a perfect gadget. It hungers for power and needs charging frequently. And it may hunger for more: Oculus is owned by Facebook, so you’re obliged to sign in with a Facebook account. True, £299 for the version with 64GB of memory (or £399 for the 256GB one) may seem like a lot to pay to prance around in front of Mark Zuckerberg. But that’s good value compared with other headsets, and it’s also cheaper than the new PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. Besides, the Quest 2 shows how VR could become a real substitute for the traditional consoles. See, for example, Beat Saber (HHHHH, £22.99). First released in 2018, this game deposits you in a neon digiscape, turns the controllers in your hands into two lightsabers, and has you slicing at flying cubes in time with the block-rockin’ beats. It is one of the masterpieces of the VR era, and feels even better on the Quest 2 with no wires to obstruct your pirouettes.
And pirouetting and ducking and aiming really are what you’ll do. Many games on the Quest 2 are at least as physically demanding as banging on the door of your shuttered local gym — and certainly more worthwhile. I had to stop playing
The Climb (HHHH✩, £22.99) in part because I kept falling from its tropical cliff faces, but mostly because my shoulders were aching from the exertion.
There is some respite. Star Wars: Tales From The Galaxy’s Edge (HHHH✩, £18.99) is practically a form of tourism, even if it takes place in a galaxy far, far away (left). There you are on the planet of Batuu, able to look around. My tip: ignore the bad guys that need shooting, and just gawp at the creatures flying overhead.
Or, better still, catch the creatures swimming underwater. Real VR Fishing (HHHH✩, £14.99) is technology as tonic. There are few more soothing experiences in gaming than visiting a South Korean shorefront and casting out a line.
And that, surely, is the point of this new reality: travel bans don’t apply. Wish you were here?